<p>My D applied to Barnard for Fall 2014 admission and is truly enamored of the school. This week she received an exquisite, school-marketing catalog with the above title, that not only further enticed and encouraged her, but from my pov as her parent, might wind up distressing her if she’s not accepted to Barnard.<br>
Does anyone have a suggestion for how I might help keep her expectations for acceptance there balanced? </p>
<p>That view book got me really exited too:) I would ask her about her other choices, and maybe get her pumped up about a safety school. That way the acceptance will be even better!</p>
<p>Rubricon - the best advice I could give you and your daughter is for her to have a realistic understanding of her chances of being accepted to the colleges she applies to. Each college website has a profile of the most recent incoming class - GPA, test scores, etc., and also disclose what there acceptance rate is.</p>
<p>Your daughter should apply to a variety of colleges - her ‘dream’ schools, midrange, and then ‘fall back’ schools. We don’t always get what we think we want in life, and many times our first choices - the ones we think we really really want - aren’t necessarily the best fits. Life has a way of changing our best laid plans, but I believe that it all works out for us.</p>
<p>Talk to any adult who has completed college and has been working for a while - who has lived a life. You will find many who did not get into the college they originally wanted, or their dream job; or who did not end up marrying the person they thought they would. But they will tell you that everything worked out for them.</p>
<p>I graduated from law school over 25 years ago. I did not get into my dream law school; I got into a good law school, but not my dream one. But the point is - I got into law school AND I graduated. I earned that law degree. Now, 25 plus years later, I realize it did not really matter which law school I went to (or which college for that matter). What mattered is what I did with what I learned.</p>
<p>I did not get my first or second dream job. I did not marry the ‘love of my life’ who I met in during college, when we were very young. But my life has been very good. I did become a successful attorney. I did marry someone I love and who loves me, and we have a fantastic, healthy child who will be going to Barnard this fall.</p>
<p>We talked quite a bit to our daughter, during her application process, about the prospect of not getting in to her dream school. Her plan was to apply for her dream school, and if that did not work out, then to midrange and fall back schools. What really matters is what you make of your opportunities, whatever they may be.</p>
<p>Best wishes to your daughter and your family. Their futures are bright. They are young. They have their lives ahead of them. It is an exciting (and anxious) time. Ah, to be so young again!</p>